The female mammary glands produce milk in the time following childbirth as a natural feeding method for the newborn infant. Milk is produced and stored in the mother's breasts from the time of delivery until several days after the cessation of breast feeding by the baby. For various reasons, some women choose not to breast feed their newborns, but to feed by means of a bottle containing commercially available baby formulas. Irrespective of the decision to bottle feed, the new mother's body produces and stores milk in anticipation the newborn baby's needs. When the milk is not removed from the breasts by a nursing infant, the breasts become engorged and painful.
In the past, a hormonal drug such as Deladumone was prescribed to inhibit the production of milk in the breasts of the non nursing mother, correcting the problem in a relatively short time. However, this practice was discontinued several years ago when long-term side effects of hormone therapy were often found to be potentially dangerous. The selected replacement for hormonal drugs has been the application of cold packs directly to the breasts, while physically constricting the breasts. The cold discourages milk production, and the constriction, or binding of the breasts, prevents significant milk storage. This treatment has been accomplished by placing a cold medium, such as a flexible ice replacement pack, into the bra of the non nursing mother. Such a flexible ice replacement pack is available from Chillerz (www.chillerz.com). Flexible ice replacements are typically a plastic bag filled with a semi-liquid that retains cold, but does not freeze to a solid at the temperature of a home freezer. Alternately, chilled cabbage or similar leaves are used. Concurrently, the breasts would be bound with a constricting binder, such as an “ace bandage,” to apply pressure on top of the cold medium.
While these measures of cooling and compressing were reasonably effective, wearing in one's bra a rectangular-shaped sack of cold, semi-liquid material that is no more than moderately bendable, or using chilled cabbage leaves, is hardly convenient and barely tolerable. In addition, the ice replacement pack is uncomfortably cold in direct contact with the skin, and the cabbage leaves do not remain cold for an extended period, thus requiring frequent replacement.
The present invention, described and claimed in detail below, provides an improved bra for use by non nursing mothers to diminish the production of breast milk and overcome the drawbacks of the prior methods. In addition, it is contemplated that since the period for elimination of breast milk is no more than several days to a week, the bra of the invention will have a short useful life and must be relatively inexpensive.